I'll Be There For You
by The 525601st Minute
Summary: A WIP Friends-RENT hybrid of sorts, about a year or so postRENT. When Mark met Phoebe, everything seemed to fall into place. When Roger met Monica...not so much. Rated T for langidge. My first attempt at RENT fanfic, so please tell me what you think!
1. Chapter 1: The Call

**A/N: This is my first attempt at writing fanfic in general, so if you've got any recommendations or comments, please review! Someone at the Idina Menzel Message Boards mentioned something about doing a Friends-RENT fic, and I decided to go ahead and try to make something to that effect. Chapter 2 is coming (once I get over this bad case of writer's block _)**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own RENT or Friends. All copyrights go to their respective owners.**

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Part 1

*beep*

"SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK."

"Hey, Mark, Roger – it's me, Maureen. Listen, I've got something going down in St. Mark's Place this weekend, and I'd like you to be there. I've already called everyone else, and Pookie said she'd pay for your tickets. Anyway, um…I guess I'll see you guys there. Bye."

Mark stood by the answering machine, shaking his head. "Roger, *why* do I put UP with her? I mean, she always hires me out for these things, and it's just…ugh, GOD!" Roger rolled his eyes. "Could you just be reasonably calm about this for ONCE? Every fucking time she makes one of these calls all I hear is bitching and complaining from you. C'mon man, it's been like a year since she broke up with you. Let it go already! Besides, she didn't _say_ she needed you there to help with engineering, did she?"

"No, she didn't…" Mark hesitated. _On one hand,_ he thought, _Roger's right, I should just chill out and go, but still, I just know that when I get there she'll relay some stupid bogus-wire-frying story and I'll end up reconfiguring all her crap. _"Let's just go, Mark. It could be fun, and you need the time away anyway – you've been saying for weeks that you're burnt out on the East Side." Mark looked at Roger and smirked. "Why are you so adamant all of a sudden? You've never been like this about anything for as long as I've known you." Roger scoffed at his friend. "What, I can't get out of this damn apartment and enjoy a little time off?"

Mark was about to offer his rebuttal when the phone rang again. "Oh dear Jesus, who is it now?" he whined as he reluctantly and slowly picked the receiver up. "Hello? Oh, HI MOM…" he sighed as he shot looks to an increasingly amused Roger. "What's that? Oh, yeah Mom, I'm fine. Just trying to make sure that rent is paid!" He let out a little fake-laugh, the one that he always did when his mom called. "Hm? Oh, Cindy and _the kids_ are visiting…" he pantomimed putting a gun to his head. "Wha—why do you need ME there? No—no, Mom, I quit Buzzline over a year ago. Well, frankly, the fact that one of Cindy's 'beautiful darlings' can pick up rolls of quarters with his toes isn't all that newsworthy, even in a Weirdo Central like New York. Besides, I, uh, can't. Maureen's got some show…protest…thing going down in St. Mark's Place, and she wants all of us to be there." Roger could hear Mrs. Cohen's shrill responses from clear across the room, and he mouthed, "Fuck, your mom is LOUD!"

"Yeah, sorry Mom. Tell Dad I said hi. Love you too. G'bye." Mark let out a deep sigh of relief as he hung up. "NOW can we go?" Roger begged impatiently. Mark looked at him over his square glasses, deep in thought, for a long time. "Oh, what the hell? Couldn't hurt." Roger smiled satisfactorily and went back to his coffee.


	2. Chapter 2: Phoebe

**A/N: Here it is, the long-awaited second chapter! It took me forever to get working on it, and tbh, I'm not entirely satisfied with the last paragraph, but if y'all like it, then I've done my job, lol. Yes, there's a Friends character in this part. R&R as always people! :D**

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Part 2

"MARK! ROG! OVER HERE!" Collins yelled as the pair entered the auditorium Maureen would be wooing in a few scant minutes. "Hey Collins! How the hell are you?" Roger said as he gave Tom a giant bear hug. Mark gave a huge grin and did the same. "Hey, Meems. Where's Joanne?" "Working the tech," she smirked as she pointed to a turret-looking structure in the middle of the audience space. Roger looked at Mark and gave a little half-smile. "See, what'd I tell you, man? Joanne is helping her." Mark grinned with relief. _Thank GOD,_ he thought. Suddenly, the lights went down.

"HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO, ST. MARK'S!"

The audience went wild as Maureen burst onstage and threw her jacket into the stands.

"Hey, guys? I need to get a little closer to the stage so I can film some of this. It won't take long," Mark whispered as he pulled out his camera and began to creep closer to the stage area. This was made a little more difficult due to the darkened lighting, so he couldn't exactly see where he was going…

"Last night, I had a dream…"

_Jesus, where the hell is the stage?_ Mark wondered as he frantically wove his way through the throngs of patrons.

"A dream about love, and peace, and harmony among all people…"

He was finding it increasingly harder to move smoothly through the audience. "Ow! Fuck…" he muttered as he felt something smack his camera. He looked down for a split second and…

*BAM*

Mark fell to the ground, knocked out.

* * *

"Hey, you! Nerdy camera guy! You okay?"

"W-whaaa…" Mark's eyelids fluttered as he slowly came to. What he saw staring down at him nearly made his heart stop.

_She's beautiful,_ he thought. She had long blonde hair, a small shoulder bag and a brightly-colored and flowery sundress on. "Yeah, I think he's fine," she called to someone in the distance as she attempted to help him up. "You ran into me pretty good," she laughed and lightly touched his forehead. "Ouch!" Mark winced a little, realizing she had touched a bruise. "What happened?" he mumbled, still not completely aware of his surroundings. "You kinda plowed into me…well, more accurately, my guitar," she smiled a little as she looked down at her instrument's slightly-dented case. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!" "It's not a problem," the girl chuckled. "I'm Phoebe, by the way."

Mark suddenly found it difficult to speak coherently. "I'm…uh, I—ah…erm…my name is…er…MARK! I'm Mark," the filmmaker nervously smiled as he shook her hand.

_Way to not blow it, dumbass_.

Before either he or Phoebe could say anything else, Collins, Roger, Joanne, Maureen, and Mimi came running over. "You okay, man?" Roger looked worried. "Yeah, I'm…I'm great, actually," he grinned as he looked at Phoebe. "Guys, this is Phoebe. Phoebe, this is Roger, Mimi, Maureen, Joanne and Collins." Phoebe went beyond the usual routine of small talk and handshakes that comes with introductions, even engaging in a small guitar conversation with Roger, who noticed her case.

"That's quite a bump you got there," Collins chuckled a little as he tousled Mark's hair. "I'm glad you're okay, baby," Maureen gave him one of her famous bone-crushing hugs and whispered suggestively in his ear, "If you need _any_thing else—HEY!" Her proposition was cut short as Joanne yanked her away. "We're _all_ glad you're not hurt," she said as she glared at her lover.

As if on cue, Roger's stomach growled loudly. "Anyone else wanna grab a bite to eat at the Life Café?" "Sure, I'm in," Mark said. "Hey, Phoebe – you want to come with us?" She beamed. "Sure, as long as they serve coffee!"

_Oh, how lucky am I?_ Mark thought to himself as the group left the auditorium. _She's pretty, musical, AND she loves coffee! I wonder if she likes me…_


End file.
